Fake Mideastern accent used in Trenton school bomb threat

TRENTON (AP) -- A federal jury has convicted a man on explosives charges for faking a Middle Eastern accent when he called in a bomb threat to a suburban Detroit high school and placed at least two explosives in the area.

The jury in Ann Arbor found 42-year-old ex-convict John R. Kennedy of Trenton guilty Wednesday of making and possessing explosives. Sentencing is March 5.

Detroit U.S. attorney spokeswoman Gina Balaya says the crimes happened in April 2011.

She says Kennedy disguised his voice "in a Middle Eastern accent" and "telephoned a bomb threat to Trenton High School." He call warned that four bombs would explode there within an hour.

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Balaya says a teacher found an explosive in a parking lot. The next day, Balaya says Kennedy exploded another device outside a store.